Wahlberg to play Max Payne

Twentieth Century Fox has approached Mark Wahlberg to star in its Max Payne film, according to a report.

He looks set to play the role of the tough cop whose wife and child are brutally murdered by drug addicts, prompting him to go on a hell-bent rampage eventually uncovering the evil mastermind behind it all.

According to Variety, Max Payne will be put together by Behind Enemy Lines and and The Omen director John Moore, and be based on a script written by Beau Thorne.

Filming is due to begin early next year.

Max Payne was a PC game by Finnish outfit Remedy Entertainment that introduced bullet-time gunplay to the wonderful world of gaming.

Remedy Entertainment is currently working on Alan Wake, an action adventure game based around a writer who is losing his marbles and some spooky spectre-things that come out when the sun goes down.

It is due for release sometime next year, but nothing has been heard about it for a while.